A vexing problem for those on Windows Phone 8 is that of space-filling ‘Other Storage’ found under Settings > Phone Storage. The problem is after a few days, weeks or months of usage, that mysterious area begins to fill up with “stuff” and users really have no recourse to getting it back.

While Nokia and other OEMs have introduced apps to delete Temporary Files, which for some does gain back significant space, it does not touch the other Other Storage problem for many.

Now, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore stated in a Tweet today that at least in GDR2 (OS build 10327), the problem has been addressed. But from our usage of the Lumia 1020, we’re not too sure users will still be satisfied.

Belfiore responds in a Tweet that:

“Don't worry: non-deleted large files (XAPs, eg) that caused 'other' storage issues were fixed in GDR2. on all 1020s.”

That may be true and we’re not going to disagree with the man who “runs the team doing Windows Phone product definition & design” but the changes do not completely get rid of the ‘other storage’ problem either.

Case in point, our Nokia Lumia 1020, which we’ve been using only since Tuesday already has 2.6GB of ‘other storage’ (according to Nokia’s app; if we use the system reading, it’s 3.65GB). That’s about 1GB more than our previous daily driver, the Lumia 920, which we used for months. We should also note we still have 22GB of free space on the 1020, so it’s not because we’re filling it up with a lot of media or apps.

On our Lumia 925, the story is a little better with only 696 MB allocated to ‘other’, which is good since the Lumia 925 has half the storage of the Lumia 1020 at 16GB.

Regardless, we can’t quite say to people that the GDR2 update will magically fix the ‘other’ storage observation. Sure, Microsoft may have improved upon it with the update, but it’s still there.

What is the Other Storage issue?

‘Other Storage’ on Windows Phone 8 includes cached data this stored on your device. Everything from email, games, videos, game info, app info, documents, images synced to SkyDrive, etc. are all items that can fill it up.

It’s been observed by many users that having auto-upload to SkyDrive is one culprit that can quickly fill the mysterious area up. Heck, even just manually uploading files can contribute to it. Over at WPXbox, they give some tips for trying to regain space back including limited syncing of email accounts, not opening SkyDrive folders with loads of images (thumbnails) and other “tricks” that have mixed results.

Another method is to try and use the app ‘Shrink Storage’, which once again, has varied results (we’ve never gained anything back from using it).

We should note that believe it or not, this is really not a bug but rather seemingly a side-effect of how the OS operates. That’s why it can’t just be patched. It appears to be a low-level OS feature that allows app, game and service data to be stored locally on the device for fast-retrieval (and reduce OTA data consumption). It's more akin to having to re-do your plumbing than fixing a leaky faucet.

The problem of course is there appears to be no way to reset it, besides wiping the device, nor a way to help gain space back or know what is causing it. While we still have 22GB of storage left on our Lumia 1020, ergo we don’t mind the lost-space now, others have lost 5, 10, 14GB and more on their devices.

So in conclusion, while GDR2 may have made it better, make no mistake that your ‘other storage’ can still fill up with seemingly little usage. How high will ours go? What exactly caused it? We have no idea but we’ll tinker around to try and find out.

Its the Xbox music songs. I'll download say ab album, and then there will be at least a duplicate of each song. Sometimes there will be four of each song. . The SD card storage will be lets say 3gb full but when you dive into the menu the music portion says 17gb full even though it's actually 3

I dont have Xbox Music, because Indonesia has not Xbox Music, so i really sure that's not the Xbox Music files.
about the duplicate song on the SD Card, it just happen on my Phone. On my computer, nothing looks duplicated include the song.

We are morons, even Nokia service centre are also full of morons because even they can't solve this problem.....................So, may be WP is not a good choice for 100 thousands users.
Wonder what will happen if these hundered thousands of users shift to another platform.....................i think WP will become endanger OS.

Uncheck Settings...Applications...music+videos...Connect with Xbox music.
You may have to back up the contents to your computer, reformat the SD Card, click on Remove SD card in Settings...system...phone storage, turn off the phone, insert the card into your computer, and copy the files back onto the card.

When you put the card back into the phone and restart it, the problem of duplctae songs should be gone.

I recall reading somewhere that turning off the auto upload to skydrive will help save space... never tried it but it is worth a try. To me turning it off is backwards thinking.... I like having everything backed up.

True, all phones running the Portico Update will get bricked sometimes when you try to install an update or reset your phone. If that happens and your phone get's stuck at the gears spinning screen forever, you should first try the soft reset by holding down your Volume Down key and Power Key simultaneously for 10 seconds. If that doesn't fix your problem, and you don't have a removable battery, then you should let your battery run out completely, disconnect any chargers, remove your SIM Card, plug in the phone to a wall charger and wait for the phone to switch on automatically, don't attempt to switch on the phone manually after plugging it in. Once when the phone switches on successfully, then switch off your phone, reinsert your SIM card and then switch it back on again. If on the other hand you do have a removable battery, then you may just remove your battery for a few seconds and then insert it back again. This will certainly work for phones bricking.

Perhaps the fix is that the 'other storage' still works like before, keeping files accessible for 'fast retrieval' as you mentioned in the article, HOWEVER, making sure there is always X GB free space available by clearing some, whenever space is required.

Chregu (below) posted that installing the update cleared SOME of his 'other storage', and then that the other storage has since, gone down even more.

The problem I still see with this (if it's the case) is that you'd never really know how much free space you have available.. :)

That's a good explanation. So every temporary file is kept in case it's needed again (like picture thumbnails from skydrive) but when the space is needed it deletes it. But I would prefer an option where you can set a time after which temporary files are deleted or a GB limit, so after 7 days for example or after 3GB.

Exactly; all that's needed is transparency so we can decide how much 'other' we want and under what conditions 'other' purges itself.
Once that's done, 'other' becomes a good feature that saves time and bandwidth, not a problem.

yes. I really don't think it's good like this, having 32GB of memory and 28GB of other, then you want to drag and drop 11GB of photos on there. Just amagine under what pressure the phone suddenly has to clean up space, that can't be done efficiently. And Microsoft is just like: "It's not a bug, it's a feature."

Hi Daniel, I just wanted to report you something I've noticed regarding to other storage problems.
So, I had around 5gb free space on my Ativ S, having 2gb for system, 3gb for apps and 6gb for other. I then wanted to try out N.O.V.A. 3, which was just released, so I downloaded the trial of it, and then went to check out my stirage: I had 4gb left, 4gb was taken by apps and 7gb by other. I only downloaded the trial, didn't even try it. So I played it a bit, didn't enjoy the controls, so I deleted it, hoping to get my 2gb back. But I didn't, after deleting it I had 3gb taken by apps and still 7gb by 'other'. So I tried something just for fun, I downloaded the trial again and deleted it, only apps section grew by 1gb and downed by 1gb. So I was stuck having 7gb on other, and shortly after that I hard reseted my phone and started again (lost my MS youtube app :'( ). Haven't downloaded any big games after that..

Just like Windows it should be under my control when to delete temp and cache files or to remove them after a certain limit of time or GBs. And Anyways, if MSFT thinks to grow like this, then certainly no more WPs.

You said yourself it includes cache. So if it did shrink without cause, that would actually indicate an issue. Try filling up all remaining space and if that doesn't trigger a cache purge then yes, there is an issue. Please update the article after filling up the device.

To quote myself from the forums: Just installing the update reduced my "Other Storage" from 4.8 GB to 2.5 GB (which I think is a good thing).
Surprisingly, now it is at 1.96 GB. So it seems better, at least on my HTC 8X.

Use it to attach artist art to all the artists you have in your phone. Voila! The lockscreen would show the artist picture now. You also have the option of backing up your covers to skydrive. Give it a go.

Of course, that's the idea. you can delete it manually or set it to delete them automatic.
Problem is that it doesn't yet seem to be still elaving some extra there that is not needed and most of all this shoulndät be happening in the the first place. So OS level fix is needed.

Oh ok yeah I use this and my other storage is at 1.5 gigs... Which I am happy with. I have also installed and used shrink storage app. However I am pretty diligent about deleting history in IE and purging log files in WPC app among a few other things.

Thank you for this article. As an ex-810 owner, I know how critical this issue is, especially for the 8gb phones. MS really needs to focus not only on adding new customers to the WP platform, but keeping those of us who are already on the platform happy by resolving issues like this.

We should be able to clear or reset the other storage, and MS needs to get off their asses and get it done.

that could arise other issues. 8GB is still 8GB, but imagine a user only being able to use 3GB for apps, when they dont use media and need 5GB. same in reverse. They want most of their storage for media, but some of it is reserved.

And if one includes a secondary, clearable memory, JUST for other storage, that creates the problem of increasing the cost of devices, as well has creating another WP7/WP8 scenario where adopters of the last platform lose something.

My phone storage says 2.15gb of other and Nokia's storage check says 691mb in other But my phone does say I have 2.16 in apps where storage check says I have 2.8gb in apps. Which is more accurate. Because if storage check is more accurate then theoretically deleting apps will lower my other storage that the phone reads as 2.15 damatically

Isn't the easy way to determine if this is fixed to install the Lumia storage check app Nokia released? Run the Temporary File cleaner in that app and see what the "other" storage changes to, and you'll figure out the extent to which the issue has or has not been resolved.

What about the discrepancies between what the preloaded phone storage app vs the Nokia storage check says about space. Eg. my phone storage says I have 2.15gb in other and 2.16 in apps but storage check says 684mb in other and 2.8 in apps?!?

Well, you mentioned that it doesn't work for all, not that it specifically didn't work for you, so I didn't know if you had tried it. Maybe it has no effect because the "other" stuff there is stuff that you need? It's worked for me on numerous occasions, with my "other" currently down to 261 MB, according to Lumia storage check.

Other storage is (in part) like the trashcan on Windows wit the exception it is supposed to permanently remove files if the space is required by the OS or user. This is the mechanism which did not work previously and would appearto be fixed now. The other area will take as much space as it can without causing you to run out of storage becauase of it.

Constantly keeping an eye on how large it is is the same thing as judging the battery life on what percentage you see in Settings>battery saver which at least for the first few weeks will be inidcative and will stabelize/be more accurate over time.

In fact many people who say they have ths 'issue' really don't but only think they do because too many people are talking nonsense on this issue.

Excactly. I'm not much of a gamer, but I wanted to try out a shooter once and couldn't install it because I had to little storage with 4.8 GB in other on my 16 GB device. I think that would have made me really mad if I'd cared more.

Daniel is right. The "other storage problem" was no problem before the huge games came out, because the system clean this up till 1gb is free, but 1gb is not enought for the new games. Microsoft had to rebuild to store to deliver the files directly and not the xap, because it is just wrong to need 4gb free for a 1gb game.

Daniel, if you keep filling the device with only a few mb of free space at most, 'Other' should start reducing in size. You have to keep adding content to keep the device full to get pre-GDR2 to reduce the usage faster, but you should be able to shrink 'Other' down to at least around 1gb or under. (This is easier than a hard reset, even though it may take a day or so to get the 'Other' allocation to shrink.)

I do not trivialize anything. The issue is real and affect a lot of people. Having other storage at 2GB by itself however does not mean the phone is having this issue at all. It appears the biggest problem is that somehow the phone does not remove used XAP files and media downloads not stored to the 'normal' places as the app has no access there.

If you read up on the technical reasons why this are is there is is a collection of system files and the OS may grab as much space as it can for it. Where it goes wrong is when apps put stuff there the OS does not expect and so is not aware of it (and the mentioned .XAP files). As a result on a 'cleanup' these files are not removed.

If you require space from this area for say installing a big game then yes obviously this space should be released and it isn't that's obviously not good.

Point I tried to make is that there is a lot of people who claim they see the issue just because they have a XGB large 'other storage' space which simply is not enough to validate 'I have this issue too'.

I was complaining about this issue the other day and my sister-in-law said that her iPhone 4S has the same problem, so apparently it's not just us. Other OSs must handle it a different way though because I've never heard anyone complain about it as much as us WP folks do.

Yes, you are right every OS goes through this, but nothing as series as WP right now.

I am looking at my storage app on my Evo LTE and under the App Storage, my Apps take up 484mb, my 'other' takes up 4.01gb -_- so idk if the android OS is installed on this partition of the storage, but yeah there seems to be this problem with every OS.

Now however, hearing some of you guys have up to 12gb of 'other' storage, that's crazy lol that's unacceptable. I am on the verge of going to Tmobile and getting a Lumia 925 so I would love for this to get sorted out :(

I think it is fixed but the 1020 still has issues because it always save two copies of the same image and the images are larger. But idk why they would go to the other storage instead of just staying as media files.

The thing is, the existence of 3GB or whatever in the other storage isn't an indication of a problem. It's working as intended that way. The OS is designed to use that space when available, and clear it out when you need it.

The bug here is not just that the other storage gets used, but the fact that it doesn't clear out when needed. So, it could be entirely true what Belfiore is saying, despite people having a few GB of other storage already.

People have been overreacting about this issue quite a bit; sure, it's a problem if it prevents you from installing apps when your phone space is nearly full, but it's not something to worry about otherwise.

You realize worrying about something when it finally becomes a problem is stupid. If u see a speed car coming at you and u stand still and decide to u will worry about it when it hit u is downright stupidity. I'm not saying other storage is not supposed to build up but at least make some way of being able to clear it otherwise it is stupid

I find it hard to believe that it just now removed 2GB of IE temporary files. Just because it's called "Temporary Files" doesn't mean that it's not removing things like what Belfiore mentioned ("non-deleted large files (XAPs, eg", which are supposed to be only temporarily stored on the device in the first place), does it?

Either way, the general point I made still stands- the device is supposed to use that space when you have it. It's entirely possible that your experience, the 3GB of Other being used, and Belfiore's statement can both be completely true at the same time.

As I alluded to with the page file comments- my work PC is currently using 8GB of 'Other' space. That doesn't mean that it's not going to free up that space when it's necessary.

Good luck with that, watch your PC crawl to a halt. Just because you can doesn't mean you should; it should never be smaller than the amount of RAM you have installed.

Anyway, the correlation between Other and swap space (aka paging file) isn't quite correct, because swap space is meant to assist the RAM (and is cleared on shutdown/boot -- still reserved, but emptied), and it has a max size. Whereas Other seems to be a network/data/general cache, similar to C:\Windows\Temp. Which is a bit crazy because I clear my Windows\Temp folder once a year at the most, and it's never above a couple of GB if that.

But the correlation between the Paging file only taking available space is understood. However if Other is meant to shrink whenever needed, the phone shouldn't count it when reporting available space to the Store app, because a big app install should clear N GB of Other storage as required.

The tweet sounds like its talking about the other issue, which I assume is different from temporary files. If I go into the storage check app right now, deleting the temporary files has no bearing on what happens with the other section.

@jhoff80 Maybe. Who knows, maybe I'll "only" lose 2.6GB of data and that's just part of the OS. The thing is, I've used this phone significantly less than my 925 and only have 4 days it's using that much data--for what, I don't know.

Point is, some people may see 3GB of data being occupied as an issue, or rather the problem not really being fixed. If it goes higher than 3GB down the road (6? 9?), I'm not sure what is supposed to be tolerable here.

A friend of mine got his Lumia 920 last month and his other storage is upto a whopping 8.6 gb!.. I on the other hand have not had such a problem since portico and before that my other storage was at 7 gb and growing. When Nokia released the storage cleaner app on first use it freed out 3 gb! that's crazy.
I guess its not how the O/S handles things i have 180+ apps installed however none of my games take up more than 1gb. Right now according to the Nokia Storage check App i have 1.4gb in the other however according to phone storage check in settings it showing as 3.45 gb.
So yes it definately is a wide spread bug and those who say this a non issue are not only ignorant but blind aswell. Touch wood it does not magically spawn a larvae in my phone too...

no wonder Nokia's VP came out to complaint about the way microsoft doesn't care about WP.
The GDR2 update is pathetic as it is, the major things that were going to, supposedely, be fixed was the Data Sense absence worldwide and the Others storage. And now we find out that none of that was solved.
Way to go Microsoft.
Then people are surprised that Nokia fans are asking more and more for Android to come to Nokia. I honestly start to don't blame them. The Windows Phone team is clearly lazy and quite incompetent.

I wouldn't say they are lazy and incompetent, but I would say there was some lack of foresight because after them rewriting. The whole thing over and they missed this is a problem cuz now they have to try to fix it in a run-a-round why which a lot of times proves difficult cuz u cause bugs in other places that hen have to be fixed again.

it was also announced at that same event, if im not mistaken, that availability would be dependent on carrier adoption. So Josh is right. There is a difference between carrier dependent core feature and universally available core feature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbvixHH8frs 22:16 - "We work with mobile operators to deploy, and it's rolling out to mobile operators, starting with our launch and going into 2013. The first operator to be offering data sense this fall is Verizon." As you see, they never stated that it would be available on all operators, only that it will be initially available on Verizon. They even stated that the expansion of data sense would be going into 2013. And guess what? Its 2013. Theres more mobile operators getting it. No lies.

No, the WP is not lazy and incompetent. There wouldn't even be a Lumia 1020 if the WP team hadn't modified the OS to allow the 1020 to capture two images at once. Do I want more and faster improvements to WP? Yes! But the WP team is not lazy nor incompetent. If you can do better, check out the job listings on Microsoft's website.

Datasense is available to carriers to deploy, if the carrier doesn't support it, then you need to complain to the carrier. For example, the Nokia 928 ships with DataSense enabled because of Verizon, even though it is not yet running GDR2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbvixHH8frs 22:16 as I stated above, Verizon was the first carrier to adopt it. It was at the Windows Phone 8 event. There was no "changing minds" or giving exclusives. They've been working with numerous carriers to be allowed data sense, and with GDR2 comes the apps for every single new carrier that has allowed it.

Microsoft wanted to have the numbers in DataSense correlate with what the carriers actually count. Inaccurate information is worse than no information. Different carriers count different amounts - for example, some do not count TCP ACK packets (containing no other data) while others do. Some count the packet headers, others just count the payloads. Therefore, the carrier had to tell Microsoft what the phone should actually count, and what your limit actually is. If they didn't, or the phone was obtained on the open market, DataSense wouldn't be available.
My understanding is that with GDR2, DataSense will now be available to everyone unless the carrier blocks it. It will have a disclaimer if the carrier hasn't provided the info: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShZDWl_87wQ&feature=player_embedded&t=23 "* As measured by your phone. Your carrier's data usage measurement may differ." You have to use Settings to tell the phone what the limit is and when it resets.
Of course, some of the carriers probably don't want you to have DataSense, because they can charge extra for going over your limit!
My open-market Nokia Lumia 820 hasn't yet received this update. I expect that it will arrive after all carrier-supplied phones are updated: it seems Nokia are getting the carriers to provide support for the updates, so they get the updates first.

GDR2 and GDR3 are/will be pathetic because MS does not want to invest any more in the WP8 platform. They are trying to create one mobile OS by porting Windows RT to the phone. This is why they are reluctant to improve the dead-end WP8, just like they stopped improving WP7 after Mango.
The only question is when will we see the new RT underpinnings on Windows Phone? Will it be with Windows Phone Blue? Or will we have to wait until WP9? That will be the only time we see significant new features.
(This is all conjecture, but it is the only explanation that makes sense given how Microsoft is behaving. Either this is true, or they are totally incompentent or totally disinterested in mobile devices)

Not really. Microsoft has been doing a lot lately, and their attention has been diverted to Windows 8. And all the complaints about notification center this, android feature that don't help, since Microsoft actually likes to try and appease customers.

Also, Microsoft has been trying to up their speed too. You don't go from releasing a phone update every 1.5 years and a desktop update every 3 years to releasing numerous phone updates within a year and a desktop update each year.

Lastly, Microsoft just went through a reorganization. Windows Phone is now under the Operating Systems team. Meaning Everyone will collaborate on both Windows Phone and Windows 8. So those features that WP needs that Windows 8 has? I could see, a year down the road, Windows Phone having them. The slow updates? Sped up. Windows phone using a derivative of WinRT (WinPRT): Fixed. AKA: Windows Phone could potentially benefit from this change up. It wont be instantaneous, but Microsoft isn't about to pull another Windows Phone 7.8. That would be Mobile suicide.

I expect that current WP8 phones will be upgradable to the Windows RT version, so in that way it is not like Windows 7.5/7.8. In every other way it is pretty much the same. Windows 8 will go at least 15 months (October 2012 to January 2014, probably a few months longer) with no significant updates.
You can talk about MS's reorgs and priorities, but there is no way to explain having a Windows Phone team be THAT unproductive unless they are working on something that is unreleasable without changing the whole OS.

i doubt there will be Windows RT for phones. thatd piss everyone off who fell in love with windows phone to wake up and find their device running Windows RT. HOWEVER, i do see WinRT (a framework not to be confused with Windows RT which is named after WinRT) being fully integrated in the future, as its running a variant of WinRT, called WinPRT (p for phone) at the moment. And sure there is. Microsoft started Windows 8 development before Windows 7's release, if im not mistaken. Perhaps they are working on 8.2 or 8.3? Or maybe they need time. Windows Phone 8 just came out Oct. 2012. Its not even been a year. So they are not going THAT slow. Doesnt apple release a version of iOS each year? So as long as they get a major update or two in before the one year mark thats good.

And considering the fact that they are having to replace features lost in the transition to NT from CE, its possible theyve been hard at work rebuilding those from scratch, explaining their, what some might say, "sluggish" speed in releasing updates.

I'm using 820 since mid-March, I have flashed it one hour after buying, with unbranded variant of 1232.5957.1308.0001 (RM-825_eu_poland_295) I performed hard reset in early-May. Since then, I'm storing all the photos (140) in my internal storage, because saving photos taken with option 'save to SD' causes huge camera lags, I've got Facebook, Twitter and two email accounts synced, skydrive folders synced with Photo HUB, 40 apps currently installed, and more than 100 installed/uninstalled at all... And everything is fine. "Others" are below 800mb... Strange thing it doesn't affect me. :-)

I have an 8x since it first came out, only have about 20-25 apps installed and my other is at 7GB. This combined with the system partition means more than half my memory is inaccessible. Consider yourself lucky sir, and I hope that luck continues for you.

I'm gonna say the Nokia storage app is more accurate because it actually breaks down what apps are using what data. It also tells you what the actual Other storage is...where the OS storage check groups a bunch of stuff together and then calls it Other.

Maps are not a part of other. Youre correct Fritzly. Especially considering maps can be stored to a SD Card. Other is similar to iOS' other storage, where old downloaded emails, cached images, updates, installation files, and other content not covered by the designated categories go. Sadly, there seems to be no OS solution for removing such files (all removing them would mean you would have to redownload any save emails, and some apps would possibly take a bit longer to load content, the way i understand things)

Oh wait. I forgot. The 822 variant does not have the necessary firmware needed to run Storage Check, so you wouldn't know. Storage Check gives a more detailed look at ones phone storage, and the Beta version allows saving maps to an SD Card, as well as categorizes Maps separately from "Other". The other storage does not include maps, but on your device, Maps may be grouped under other instead of having their own heading.

Sadly I've resorted to using this phone as a dumb phone due to other storage, lack of dedicated volume, and no notification center. Can't do anything without storage growing, don't listen to music out of fear of missing an important business call if I forget to turn the ringer up, and we only have live tiles which depending on the app may only work half the time (looking at you Skype) as a notification system. Oddly enough I miss my old blackberry bold.

Dedicated volume for ringer/notification's and a dedicated volume for media dude...make them separate you know? Not that hard to figure that part out...probably should think before you call people dumb.

Can they just give us a button that will clear it. Instead of these so called "fixes". I know they're trying but having to reset my phone over something i can't control is annoying. Luckily windows phone back up is amazing.